Salleh condemns opposition use of foreign powers to interfere in Malaysia

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the Opposition were irresponsible enough to manipulate the latest civil lawsuits of the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) as a purely political weapon to topple the country’s leaders. File pix by MOHAMAD SHAHRIL BADRI SAALI.

KUALA LUMPUR: Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak has strongly condemned opposition members and supporters who he said are prepared to ignore national sovereignty and use foreign powers to interfere in the country’s political affairs.

He said they were irresponsible enough to manipulate the latest civil lawsuits of the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) as a purely political weapon to topple the country’s leaders in the pursuit of their personal goals.

“They did a similar thing in July last year but failed and they are trying again this year.

“I am truly convinced that they will use the same thing at the next general election, that is manipulation of this issue (DoJ civil lawsuits) to tarnish the country’s image and damage the reputation of the Prime Minister,” he said to reporters here yesterday.

Salleh said the Attorney General had repeatedly insisted that investigations showed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not involved in the alleged money laundering mentioned in the DoJ civil lawsuits and there is no substantiated evidence for any court action.

Salleh said Malaysians should understand that investigations by the DoJ were a normal process in the United States and did not prove the validity of any allegation so long as the matter had not been decided by the courts.

"But we in Malaysia are taking advantage (of the DoJ reports). Of course, they (the allegations) are not investigated if there is no allegation from Malaysians themselves.

"Evidently, some Malaysians have gone to the United States to make the allegations there, when Malaysia has its own laws," he said.

Salleh said the opposition was now desperate and was willing to do anything for political survival despite knowing that such a thing was vile and dirty.

He said the opposition was resorting to this purely to create in the people a negative perception of national leaders in order to gain the people's political support.

Salleh said, however, that the majority of the people realised this and, in fact, they were fed up with the opposition dirty tactic of using old and irrelevant issues repeatedly to garner support.

He said Malaysians were more concerned with economic and social development that brought them benefits instead of having to think about baseless allegations by outsiders.

"I am convinced Malaysians will stand firmly by the government because they want a country that is at liberty to determine our direction without any need to conspire with outsiders.

"It is unnecessary for us to seek the help of foreign powers to topple the national leadership. I think that is wrong and I regard it as a betrayal of Malaysia’s independence," he said. -- BERNAMA